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Consuming lean meat following an exercise session could significantly enhance muscle development compared to higher-fat varieties, according to recent studies.

Scientists from the United States, publishing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, conducted a study involving 16 individuals who were physically active and participated in a resistance training session that included exercises like leg presses and leg extensions.

Following the training session, each participant was given one of three post-exercise meals: a lean pork burger, a high-fat pork burger, or a carbohydrate-based drink serving as the control.

Blood and tissue samples were collected prior to eating and once more five hours afterward.

Following a few days of recovery, 14 participants went through the procedure again to eliminate individual variations.

The findings indicated that individuals who consumed the lean pork burger experienced the greatest rise in blood amino acids – the essential components the body utilizes to mend and develop new muscle mass.

In contrast, consuming the high-fat pork seemed to reduce this muscle growth effect, indicating that lean protein sources are more effective for recovery and strength improvements following physical activity.

Lead researcher, Nicholas Burd, who holds a professorship in health and physical activity at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, described the results as ‘unexpected’.

Regarding the findings, he stated, “What we are discovering is that not every high-quality animal-based food is the same… For some reason, the high-fat pork significantly reduced the reaction.”

In reality, individuals who consumed the high-fat pork showed only a marginal improvement in muscle-building capacity compared to those who drank a carbohydrate-based sports drink.

At the start of the research, participants were given an amino acid infusion – this enables researchers to track how rapidly they are absorbed by muscle tissue.

Blood samples taken during the process were used to measure the levels of these amino acids in the bloodstream.

In the meantime, the biopsies collected prior to and following the infusion provided them with a reference point for muscle-protein synthesis—the process through which amino acids create new muscle proteins.

They found that lean pork had a 47 percent higher rate of protein synthesis, at 0.106 percent, compared to high-fat pork, which was 0.072 percent.

Professor Burd stated, “There was a slight increase in amino acids obtained from consuming lean pork, which might have served as a more significant stimulus for muscle protein synthesis.”

But he added, “that appears to be unique to the ground pork.”

He mentioned that understanding the results might be challenging because transforming the pork into patties could have influenced the speed and degree of nutrient digestion.

The group processed the pork to form patties with specifically measured fat content for the research.

All the meat originated from a single pig, and the patties needed to be sent to a lab for nutritional testing.

After that, they were preserved to maintain the nutrient content, until it was time for the participants to consume them.

“That consumed a year due to the difficulty in achieving those high ratios,” Burd said.

He stated: ‘If you’re consuming other foods, such as eggs or salmon, whole foods seem to be more beneficial even though they don’t cause a significant increase in blood amino acids.’

Although dietary choices can play a role, he stated, “the majority of muscle response comes from weight training,” meaning they won’t produce visible results on their own.

The Pork Checkoff initiative, backed by the National Pork Board, funded the research, but the financial supporter did not take part in the study’s structure, data gathering, or evaluation.

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